Mike Richards is stepping down as the host of 'Jeopardy!' and it was absolutely the right thing to do
It looks like the quest to find a Jeopardy! successor for Alex Trebek after his passing is back on.
Mike Richards, the executive producer who they landed on as the host, is stepping down from the show effective immediately. Richards has been in the spotlight this week for all of the wrong reasons.
Richards’ decision comes following a report from the Ringer on Wednesday revealing derogatory comments from Richards on his own podcast, The Randumb Show, back in 2013.
On the podcast, Richards made derogatory remarks about women and commented on their weight, calling them things like “frumpy.” He also called his co-host and former assistant Beth Triffon a “booth ho,” “booth slut” and “boothstitute” as she described her work as a model.
Yeah, that’s pretty awful stuff.
Richards released a statement announcing his decision to step down on Friday.
BREAKING: Mike Richards has stepped down as the host of Jeopardy! Official statement via Sony: pic.twitter.com/eJSwyBOXwN
— Claire McNear (@clairemcnear) August 20, 2021
“As I mentioned last week, I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role. However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show. As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately. As a result, we will be canceling production today.”
People were absolutely right to be outraged by this. When you make comments like this, there are consequences.
Throw in the fact that Richards’ name is also in multiple discrimination lawsuits from his time at The Price is Right, per Entertainment Weekly, and it becomes pretty clear he was never the right host and shouldn’t have been chosen in the first place.
This, ultimately, was the best decision for everyone. Hopefully, Jeopardy! doesn’t make this mistake again and chooses a viable host this time.